E-mailing and cell-phoning have nearly spelled the end of the U.S. Postal Service-delivered letter. It’s so much easier to take a digital photo from wherever you are in the world and e-mail it that postcards are becoming a relic of the past, too.

That’s why the Springfield-Greene County Library’s digitized collection of historical postcards from a bygone era is such a treat. Using the newest of technology, the library staff has preserved 113 “postal cards,” as they were called in 1893 when the Postal Service revised its regulations to allow pictures on one side of a mailed piece.

“The postcards are an important visual record and retrospective of Springfield and the surrounding area,” according to Local History Librarian Michael Glenn. Most of the postcards in the digitized collection are of buildings considered important to education, government, commerce or religion, but there are also postcards representing hotels, theaters and parks, such as the interesting history of the now defunct White City Amusement Park.

Constructed in 1907 on the site of the present Assemblies of God complex in northwest Springfield, White City Amusement Park included a roller skating rink, the largest in the U.S. at the time, penny arcade, bowling lanes, large roller coaster, vaudeville theater, restaurant, dancing pavilion and other attractions.

One postcard shows a merry-go-round, part of a bandstand and pool hall. There was a garden area called Dreamland where couples could stroll and sit on benches, and a baseball field where Western Association games were played by the Springfield Midgets.

By 1911, the complex was in decline—only two of the many amusement park buildings were left standing and the grounds, used for traveling circuses and carnivals, gained an unsavory reputation.

In 1920, a new 3,000-person grandstand opened, and the Springfield Midgets were revived. Eleven years later in 1931, the St. Louis Cardinals formed a Class C team in Springfield; the franchise started as the Redwings and later became the Cardinals. In 1941, Stan the Man Musial began his career at the White City stadium.

During World War II, minor league baseball was suspended and the Assemblies of God bought the five-acre tract for $35,000.

The postcards tell the story of White City Amusement Park. You can also find the history of Fassnight Park Swimming Pool and Doling Park through postcards by visiting thelibrary.org, then select local history.

Jeanne C. Duffey, community relations director for the Springfield-Greene County Library District, can be reached at jeanned@thelibrary.org.